Existing inflatable watercraft, including towable craft, typically include one or more inflatable tubes to which a base or bottom is secured. Often made of PVC, the tubes and base may be connected via radio-frequency welding or any other suitable attachment method. The portion of the base between the tubes, described herein as the "cockpit space," defines the area in which humans may stand, kneel, or sit and be supported above the waterline.
Conventionally, the overall height of the inflatable watercraft is merely the height of its tubes. Because the tubes usually are substantially smaller than the height of a person, even when the person is sitting in the craft, his or her body may have a portion exposed to the elements and thus subjected to unwanted contact with wind, water, or debris as the craft moves through the water. Increasing the height of the tubes is rarely commercially practical, however, as doing so necessarily increases their diameter, in turn undesirably increasing the overall length and width of the craft. Maintaining the same craft length and width while increasing the height of the tubes, alternatively, will decrease the cockpit space, yet another undesirable result.